Through a friend of a friend of a friend at the Ghostly Intl. imprint, Metro Times has come to acquire proof of a recent visit to Detroit from none other than Banksy, one of the world's most intruiging artistic figures.
A bit on Bansky: The annonymous nightstalker is said to have come up through Bristol's underground scene in the early 1990s. Though he's now an infamous globetrotting graffiti guru, redefining the impact and economy of stencil art, Banksy was once just a punk with a pen and and some sick freehand skills.
His work often contains melancholic characters that both figuratively and literally play off their immediate environs. He nods at pop culture, pop art, and more. At the core of much of his work is anarchy. Banksy attempts to provoke sympathy, albeit with a stoned dose of humor. Perhaps no more evident of this is his piece depicting a municipal worker cleaning graffiti off the wall, inset in the graffiti are ancient-looking hieroglyphs.
From printing fake currency in London to, hanging a Banksified reimagining of the Mona Lisa at the Louvre and other subverted works inside New York's Museum of Modern Art and American Museum of Natural History (to name a few), Banksy thrives on hijinx. In August of 2008, Banksy swapped out 500 copies of Paris Hilton's debut record, Paris, in 48 UK record stores. His own art graced the cover and he tapped Danger Mouse to remix the music. One song title was renamed "Why Am I Famous?"
Anyway, his story is something else. So, in a few minutes, just Wikipedia "Bansky" and go from there.
From the tumultuous West Bank barrier in Israel to Van Dyke between Milton and Palmetto, in Detroit, Banksy decends on the world under the guise of night to paint his next uncomissioned canvas.
Here are his latest (we hear Banksy's quite interested in Detroit at the mo).
Diamond Girl is hopefully still at Circle Cleaners on Van Dyke between Milton and Palmetto
Tightrope Rat was spotted at an industrial building on Van Dyke between Anna and Gerald
Here's a still from a video that posted on Banksy Forum just last night!Watch the video!
Exit Through the Gift Shop, which opened last weekend at the Main Art Theatre in Royal Oak, tells the story of an eccentric French shop keep/ amateur documenteur attempts to locate and befriend Banksy, only to have the artist turn the camera back on its owner. They're billing it as the "world's first street art disaster movie." This must-see flick also features Shephard Fairey, Invader and other graffiti artists with global repuations. banksyfilm.com/
